Reeher Talks to HuffPost, Newsweek About the Crowded 2024 GOP Field

June 20, 2023

Newsweek,The Huffington Post

Grant Reeher

Political Science Department

Campbell Public Affairs Institute

Political Parties

U.S. Elections

United States

Newsweek

The Huffington Post

Grant Reeher

More Republicans joining the 2024 presidential primary is certain to divide support among voters vying for new leadership in the GOP, which could make it easier for Trump to snag the presidential nomination.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells Newsweek that a crowded primary field benefited Trump in 2016 when the higher number of candidates allowed Trump to win the primary with only about 45 percent of the vote.

Other Republicans at the time likely doubted Trump would be able to sustain momentum, so they declined to drop out until late in the primary season. However, one difference in 2024 is that it remains to be known whether non-Trump candidates would drop out, Reeher says.

"The big question this time around is going to be, 'Is there going to be some coordination among these other candidates and their campaigns that they're not going to do this, this time,'" he says.

Reeher was also quoted in the HuffPost article, "As 2024 GOP Field Grows, Senators (Mostly) Sit It Out."